Actuator for track sanders



July 27, 1943.

Filed July 5, 1940 2" Sheets-Sheet l alga- 13.

I A I 1: v 41 I 2 I\N\L/F\NTO s 5. WTTORNEY July 27, 1943.

A. E. TUCKER ET AL '7 2,325,441

ACTUATOR FOR TRACK SANDERS Filed July 5, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 M IAJVENTORS ATTORNE? Patented July 27, 1943 2,325,441: PATE ToFnc -F" I H 2,325,441 g Y 'AoT-UA'ronFoR TRACK SANDERS Arthur Ei QTu'cker, Schenectady, N. Y., and George SLGunnison; Jersey City, N. 'J., assignors to Consolidated Car Heating Company, Inc., Albany, N. Y., a cor'poration of New York '1 nearest duly 5, 19.40, Serial No. 343,960.. 1 Claim; (01191- 23) This invention relates to track sanders and particularly power operated track sanders. g

A principal object of this invention is the production of tracksander,preferebly'power operated, which embodies a sand fiow orifice and; 'a means for preventing a flow. of sand from said orifice which is devoid of close fitting parts in those portions which' come directly in contact with the sand. g I V v A further object of the inventionis toprovide a device of the character specified. which will also. include. meansffor freeing the sand orifice, of lumps and caked sand which is movablesy-nchronously with the means for preventing the flow of sandiroin the orifice A further object of the invention is vision of a device of 'the character specified which embodies a reciprocating plungerior operating'the sand valve or means for preventing sand from flowing from a sand orifice. which plungeris protected for a major portion of its length from coming in contact withsand or dust. fromthesand. Other objects and advantages will appear as the description" of the particularj'physical em--. bodiment selected to illustrate the invention progresses, and thenovel features-willfbe par-..

ticularly pointed out in'the appended claim.

In describing tha invention in detail the particular physical embodiment "selected to illli's'; trate the invention, reference-will be had to the accompanying drawin gs-and'the several views thereon, in which like' charact'ers of reference designate like parts throughout the several views, and in which: V

Figure 1- is a side elevational view of altrack sander embodying my invention with a. cover plate removed tomo're clearly show: the internal construction; Fig. 2 rea -end elevation of the track sander shown by Fig. 1 viewed froni the.

the proleft hand side thereof and witlrsomefparts broken away to more clearly showthe 'construc-, tion; Fig. 3 is'an ielevation'al'viewof'the track sander as shown byFig. 1 as viewed'if rorn the.

right hand end-thereof; Fig. 4"is" avertical crosssectional view of the device as shown byFig. '1

on the-plane indicated-by thefline IV-JVbf Fig.1; Fig. 5 ,is a fragmentary, longitudinal cross-sectional viewer the track s'anderas by Fig. '1' withthe sand valve shown in a'fdil fe'rent position froin that assh'ownjin Fig. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal 'cr'os's-s ectionalyiew of the sander'asshown by-Fig. 1. j' i The track sander of applicants: invention comprises, broadly, asand sweeter reservoir]; a pivoted cup or [sand valve '2,"anda plunger 3 operable by solenoidtaj when the solenoid 4 is energized-theplunger"'3operatesthecup or valve 2 to remove it from underneath the reservoir and the sand in the reservoir flows thereout.

When the cup or valve..2 is in the position as shown'in'F'ig. 6, the sand does not "now from the reservoir.- The bucket or reservoir l as shown in the drawings does hot have the proper volumetric capacity to contain a practicable quantity of sand andso in practice, it would be supplemented by a more capacious reservoir 5 as shown in Fig.1 2. The reservoir or bucket l is preferably forinedwith the lower part of its walls converging, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, so that they really form a. frustum. In this case, the frustumof a cone. The end of the cone is formed with. an orifice 6 and beyond the orifice, 6 the walls are preferably continuedas at T to form .a chamber or nozzle. If the orifice 6,, its

unobstructed, sand ,in the chamber can flow therefrom and drop into the delivery spoutS and from then cebe. conveyed to any desired point. by any suitable means.

In order to govern the flow of sand from the reservoir I, applicantsprovide a sand valve. or c,up,2. -'ljhis'cup 2 is orificed at Q to receive a pivot pin in which'is supported by the boss] H on the lower end ofrthe reservoir; Ehe cup'2, in

the sand lflow' preventing. position, occupies. a position as shown in Fig. 6 with its upper edge somewhat beyondthe lower edge of the nozzle 1. In such position the sand will not flow out of the nozzle although there is 'a free exit'for it around the outer edge of the lower part of the nozzle 1. If the cup or sand Valve 2 is moved to the posi: tion as' show'n in Fig. 5 then the sand may flow freely from the reservoir I into the supply nozzle 8.

As the orifice 6 may become clogged due to caking of the sand or lumps, applicants provide a prong or stirrer 12. This prong or stirrer is preferably attached to the cup Z'in any suitable or appropriate manner, as by riveting at l3, and for substantially the greater portion of its length is formed with a' curvaturehaving the center of the pin H] as the radial center. The prong I2 moves up and intothe orifice 6 when the cup Zis placed in the'position as shown in Fig. 6 and is withdrawn therefrom when the cup 2 is placed-in the position as shown by Fig. 5.

- Although the cup "2 and the prong l2 attached theretofhave beendescribed as being preferably pivoted so as to swing up into a position and swungdown out of position; nevertheless, it is desired 'to have it understoodthat such specific description isnot intended toexclude other forms of construction which could equally well be used to bring the cup 2 substantially into the position shownbyFig. 3 and remove it therefrom so -as;t'o lea've theorifice from the reservoir sube stantiall'y unobstructed.

v In order to move the cup upon its pivot l0, applicants preferably provide the bifurcated member l4 provided in each leg thereof with a trunnion bearing as l5 and IS in which the" before described upon a, reciprocation plunger 3. I

the bucket 2 and the plunger 3 are positioned. This solenoid chamber is separated from the trunnions as I! and lfl extend. The bifurcated member 14 is pivotally attached as by the pivot n The above construction, 5,

that the cup or bucket 2 will move as hereinto the position as shown in Fig. 6 thereby returning the sand valve or cup 2 to the position as shown in Fig. 6. During both the opening and the closing movement, the prong l2 thoroughly ,agitates any lumps or caked sand which may be in orabout the orifice of the reservoir.

The construction illustrated and described is such that/the sand valve itself includes no close a a fitting parts whichcome in contact with the sand The solenoid 4 is positionedin a chamber- 1 separate and apart from the chamber in Whichso that the danger of sticking or rapid Wear is *avoided.

bucket chamber by a separate and independent wall which is securedin position by being clamped between the solenoid chamber wall 21 and the cup chamber wall 22.

a boss 23 formed with a through orifice 24 A tube 25 extends through the solenoid 4 and through the orifice or bore 24 and supports the solenoid and also provides a pocket for plunger- 3 A helical spring 25 surrounds the plunger 3 7 This separ'ate and independent wall is provided at the center with and bears at one end against the boss 23 and at e v the other end against an abutment such as a ring 21 attached to the plunger 3. This spring,

' when the solenoid 4:15 not energized, forces the plunger 3 to theleft'as viewed in Fig. 6.

In orderto prevent any sandjor dust from the sand getting in between the; plunger Brand the tube 24" applicants provide a boot 28' about a major portion of the plunger 3. This bootis cylindrical in general form and one end closely clasps the boss of the independentwall 20 and is prevented from being pulled thereoii by the abutment 29 thereon. The other end of the boot 2 8V closely clasps the plunger 3 and is attached thereto in any suitable or appropriate manner as by welding. The boot 28, although cylindrical generally in form, is corrugated so that it is a sort of bellows and being made preferably of metal it may expand and contract longitudinally as the plunger 3 reciprocates to the left and to the right as viewed in Fig. 6. V

In order to adjust and limit the extent of movement of plunger 3 and also to assist in supporting one end of solenoid' l, a stop .30 is positioned in the tube 24 at its right hand end. This stop extends through the boss 3! of the wall 2| and is formed with threads on its outerend f The terminals and of the solenoid 4 ,are

preferably formed into a cable as 31 and this cable is preferably passed through a bore 38 in thewall 2i and the entrance sealed by pouring" or [otherwise placing therein insulating compound 39.

As not only the sand itself but the dust therefromflis very destructiveto metal parts moving .very close to one another, the life of plunger 3 is greatly prolonged by the efiicient boot 28 which is positioned about themajor portion thereof and which prevents any sand or dust from sand from getting between the plunger 3' and the tube 24 and so causing an excessive wear.

If any of the parts do become defective ready access is afiorded thereto by the hand hole such as 40 provided at each side of the bucket 2, each of which is covered by hand hole plate as 4! and each hand hole plate is held in place by bolts as 42; It is preferred to use a gasket as 43 around the edge of the plate 4| to prevent any sand dust from seeping out and getting into adjacent machine parts. V

I The nozzle 8 has been provided with a screw thread 44 to facilitate the attachment of a hose orot'her duct for conducting the sand toa desired pointi V Although we have particularly described one particular physical embodiment of our invention and explained the operation, construction and principle thereof, nevertheless, we desire to have it understood that the form selected is merely illustrative but does not exhaust the possible physical embodiments of the idea of means underlying our invention. I

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

An actuator for a sander, including in combination: a solenoid; a central tube partly within the solenoid; walls forming a chamber within which the solenoid 'is positioned, one. of said walls being separate and independent, said iast mentioned wall being formed with a central boss formed with a through bore through which said tube extends for supporting the solenoid at one end, the wall opposite. to said separate and independent wall also formed with a central boss 7 formed with a through bore; a plunger stop p051 material within the tube; means including resil- The operation of the device is'quiteobvious.

When it is desired to .supply sand to, the nozzle 8 the solenoid 4 is energized which causes the plunger 3 to move to the right as viewed in Fig; 6. 'The movement ofplunger '3 to the right moves sand valve'orcup Z on the pivot l0 so as to put it into the position as shown in Fig. 5 thereby allowing free movement of sand from reservoir I. When sufficient sand has been sup-1 plied to the nozzle 8, the circuit of the solenoid 4 is broken and spring 26 returns the plunger 3' ient means for normally maintaining the plunger in an outwardly projectedposition and a boot formed ofv relatively flexible material as a corrugated cylinder surrounding the plunger for a .portion of its length beyond the separate and independent wall on the side remote from the solenoid, said bootclosely surrounding the boss cn the wall'a'tone end and closely surrounding and attached to the plunger at the other end whereby a movement. of the plunger compresses or distends the corrugatedcylinder and undesired material is prevented from entering between the plunger and the tube, and means operated by the plunger whereby: sand isfallowed to escape.

ARTHUR. E. TUCKER. GEORGE s. GUNNISON. 

